Poker tournaments have become increasingly popular, becoming the go-to way to play the sport. With the number of tournaments rising, prize pools are bigger than ever. Players pay an entrance fee and fight for the biggest prize.
The biggest tournament in the world of poker has by far been the World Series of Poker Main Event, whose marquee $10000 buy-in tournament features on eight of the ten highest-paid poker tournaments in history.
The first poker tournament to hit the million-dollar mark was the 1983 WSOP Main Event. The World Series of Poker is the biggest tournament in the poker world. It has international circuits, but it primarily specialises in the United States. WSOP has a European circuit, an international circuit, and an online poker circuit, among other circuits. 19 of the 21 largest prize pools in history have been WSOP Main Events.
Here are the 10 highest-paid poker tournaments in history:
#10 2011 WSOP Main Event
The 2011 WSOP main event had a prize pool of $64,531,000, with German Pius Heinz taking home the first place of $8,711,956. With his victory, Heinz became the first German to capture the WSOP Main Event bracelet.
#9 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series – Triton Million
Nine of the ten poker tournaments on this list are WSOP Main Event editions. The only non-WSOP on this list is the 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series – Triton Million, which boasted a prize pool of a whopping $65,660,000 (£54,000,000).
This was a tournament for charity and was the first ever invitational-only poker tournament hosted by Triton Poker and had a buy-in of £1,050,000. Aaron Zang from China placed first, taking home $16,775,820 (£13,779,491) while Bryn Kenney, the man with the most premiers in Triton Poker history, placed second and took home the higher bounty of $20,563,324 (£16,775,820) because of an Independent Chip Model (ICM) deal at the final heads-up.
#8 2017 WSOP Main Event
With a prize pool of $67,877,400, the 2017 WSOP Main Event was won by American Scott Blumstein as he took home $8,150,000. Blumstein is one of five Americans with a main event bracelet on this list.
#7 2010 WSOP Main Event
Boasting a treasury of $68,799,059, the 2010 WSOP Main Event was the 41st edition of the WSOP. Canadian Jonathan Duhamel won with a prize of $8,944,310.
Matt Affleck, who placed 15th in the tournament, along with his 80th place finish from the 2009 event, outlasted 13,718 players in back-to-back years, making it the fourth-most in WSOP history. The record is held by Stefan Mattson who survived 15,052 players in 2006 and 2007.
#6 2018 WSOP Main Event
The 2018 edition of the main event had a whopping $74,015,600 up for grabs. American John Cynn placed first and received $8,800,000 in prize money.
#5 2019 WSOP Main Event
The successor of the 2018 main event, the 2019 edition of the famed poker tournament, upped the stakes with a significantly increased pot of $80,548,600. German Hossein Ensan took home the grand bounty of $10,000,000.
#4 2022 WSOP Main Event
The 2022 main event had a total pool of $80,782,475. Norwegian Espen Jørstad finished first, collecting $10,000,000 in the process.
#3 2006 WSOP Main Event
The oldest poker tournament on the list, the 2006 edition of the WSOP Main Event featured a previous record prize pool of $82,512,162. American television producer Jamie Gold was crowned champion and won a total of $12,000,000 for his efforts. This was the first tournament where, along with the $10,000 chip, an “All-In” coin was introduced where players could just use the chip rather than pushing all their coins into the table.
#2 WSOP Main Event 2023
The WSOP 2023 Main Event boasted a total treasury of $93,399,900 with a first place of $12,100,000, which was pocketed by American Daniel Weinman. It featured the highest prize pool and held the record as the highest-paid poker tournament of all time before being overtaken by its successor, the 2024 main event.
#1 WSOP Main Event 2024
The recently concluded 2024 WSOP Main Event featured the biggest prize pool in history: a whopping $94,041,600, with first-place winner Jonathan Tamayo bagging $10,000,000. The poker tournament brought in 10,112 entries, making it the largest main event field in WSOP history.
Edited by Pritha Ghosh